Jessica Serrano brought her 1-year-old daughter, Jyselle, to Cocopah Family Night with the hopes of learning some new cooking skills and, for a change, preparing dinner with her daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was a good idea to cook the food in front of the audience instead of doing it behind the scenes, so everyone could get hands-on experience,\u201d said Serrano.<\/p>\n
Serrano was one of many Cocopah Tribe families who are taking the first step to healthier eating after attending the event aimed to reduce child obesity.<\/p>\n
The Let\u2019s Cook | Let\u2019s Eat | Let\u2019s Play program presented at Cocopah Family Night, in collaboration with Project LAUNCH and Cultural Resources, is funded by the First Things First Cocopah Tribe Regional Partnership Council<\/a>. The program is designed to raise awareness among parents about healthy eating, body awareness and physical activity to promote health and reduce obesity in young children in the region.<\/p>\n FTF Cocopah Tribe Regional Director Nohemi Ortega said the regional council took a year of planning, researching, interviewing and strategizing to find the best way to help families and their young children achieve better health.<\/p>\n \u201cOur research showed that a lot of the families were not cooking meals at home,\u201d said Ortega. \u201cThe council was willing to address the issue and have conversations to find out what was stopping families from cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the concerns discovered were families lacked time and a basic knowledge of how to cook healthy meals. Parents needed simple, healthy cultural recipes that were easy to prepare at home.<\/p>\n